Mom's Candle . . .

While we were in Lancaster, PA and browsing through all the specialty shops in Kettle Kitchen, my daughter was busy smelling candles. She turns to me and tells me to smell the one in her hand. I knew that smell well, but I couldn't identify it immediately. The name of the candle, made by 1803, is called Lavender Linen. I take another smell and tell her, "It smells like my mother." Of course she didn't remember my mother’s scent, but she is partial to the fresh linen scent. Maybe because she spent so much of her baby and toddler years being held, cuddled and hugged by grandma. I took another whiff of this candle, that stirred up so many memories of my childhood, when my daughter turned to me an said I’m buying this for you. I told her she didn’t have to, but she insisted, saying “You said it smells like Grandma.” My first thought was to let my brother smell it and see if he had the same feeling as I did. 

About a week later, my brother was visiting me and I suddenly remembered the candle. I brought it down and opened it for him to smell. “What does this smell like,” I asked. He said it smelled familiar, he knew the scent, but couldn’t put his finger on it. I gave him some time, but he could identify it. He asks me what I think it smells like. I said, “Mom.” He nodded and smelled it again. 

My mother, who never wore perfume and used Camay soap, always washed her laundry and hung it out to dry on the clothesline. The fragrance from her freshly laundered clothes, that crisp linen smell, was strong and almost intoxicating. This simple candle captured it perfectly. Suddenly, I had the urge to try and purchase more of these candles. I checked online and the scent has been discontinued by the manufacturer, their remaining candles sold out. I don’t recall the store we purchased the one I have, so I checked all the stores in Kettle Kitchen online. None of them advertised the scent, probably because it’s been discontinued. In any case it’s no where to be found online. 

I’m not going to light this candle unless I find another one just like it somewhere on a store shelf.  I love it. My daughter must have been instinctually aware of it significance, more so than I was that moment in the store. I’m so happy she bought it for me. Every time I smell it I’m transported back in time, to kisses and hugs, to unconditional love . . . to mom. 

Politics, What Do I Know?

 

 

What do I know about politics? Probably next to nothing. I have never been interested in politicians until Barack Obama ran for office. I started to pay more attention to the issues and political platforms of those running because I knew this was going to be a historical election. It was possible, that for the first time in our nation's history, a black man was running for office and actually could win. I should have stopped paying attention after the election because politics, politicians and the political process only serve to increase my already high blood pressure. But, even paying attention, I still know relatively little and yet have so many opinions.

 

Now for my little rant. Since Obama won the election back in 2008, Republicans have been complaining about his leadership. They hate Obama Care. He doesn't do anything about illegal aliens. He made a bad deal with Iran. The list is endless. I can understand some of their points of view. So what have they done in the last eight years to prepare for the election in 2016? I see a dozen Republicans all trying to get the nomination. Many are saying the stupidest things that are sure to lose them support with voters. I am not going to point them all out as examples right now and risk having a stroke. My question is why are there a dozen candidates at this point?

 

The party had eight years to groom someone and get them ready for this critical election. They knew Hillary Clinton was going all out on the Democratic Party ticket. They knew she had lots of support and money. Hell she has been grooming herself by first becoming Senator of New York, like she gave a damn about us. Then she maneuvered herself into the Secretary of State position to gain more support. Everyone knew her strategy. And, the Republicans knew Obama could not run again in 2016 and that Joe Biden probably wouldn't be running. So here's my question: Why didn't the Republican Party take that eight years and go find someone in their party who they could groom to be the next president? Someone who would appeal to Republicans and Democrats alike? Someone who understands the issues and speaks intelligently about them and has concrete ideas for fixing what is wrong with this country. Why are we watching 12 candidates who are all losing in the polls to Donald Trump? Donald Trump! Now don't get me wrong, Donald is very entertaining to watch and listen to. He talks off the top of his head without a censor. He makes me laugh, but that is not a quality I am looking for in a President. And still he is ahead in the polls . . . way ahead in fact. The only reason I can think of for that is that he is saying what many people are thinking and feeling in this country. I will give him credit for one thing, he has gotten me back interested in the election. He has made me aware of the other 12 candidates, many of whom I have never heard of before. He keeps tabs on them and them tweets everything they say and do. I love it! But at the same time I am afraid he just might get elected. I am afraid the Republican Party has fallen down on the job. They needed a solid candidate to run, not an army of politicians dividing up the party into little pieces. That's my opinion anyway. This feels like a three ring circus where a dozen clowns come out of a little car and run around.

 

This leaves me with the impression that the Republican Party doesn't have one solid candidate that we can take seriously. When Donald Trump is there front runner, what else is there to think? And maybe the Republican Party doesn't want to win the election after all. Maybe they know they can't fix all the things they claim they can? Maybe they just like to complain about what the Democrats are doing and put up road blocks?



I may lean towards the Democrat side in politics, but right now I am not happy with Hillary at all. I would welcome a good solid candidate from either side to lead this country. Unfortunately, right now, I am not seeing anyone I can put my faith in to vote for.

Lancaster, P.A. Revisited . . .

 

The "old" Lancaster Map

When the girls were much younger, we took a couple of trips to Lancaster, PA aka Amish country. We did all the “tourtisty” things including: the Amish Buggy Ride, tours of the houses, farms and school, experiencing the “family style” dinners, enjoying the “shoo-fly pie” and apple butter. We shopped for souvenirs and assorted jellies, jams, peanut butter. We didn’t leave any stone unturned. However, as the girls got a little older (13 and 16) Lancaster became less enchanting and the simple lifestyle of the Amish more boring. They weren’t interested in going there even for a short family vacation any more. But now, 12 years later, both of them suddenly agreed to come with us for a four day weekend. Granted it was my birthday weekend and I had just finished dealing with a health scare, so maybe they were feeling generous? I wasn’t about to talk them out of it by asking why they agreed to go. So we packed.

The ride to Lancaster was uneventful except for some traffic getting out of the city, which added an hour to the trip. We had a bite to eat, checked into the hotel and then went shopping at the Rockvale outlets, surrounding the hotel. This was not only our first day away, but the first day of a heat wave of over 90 degree weather. That really sums up the whole trip, eating, shopping and dying of the heat. We saw cows, horses, and Amish people. We spent all our cash and our Kohl’s cash too. We had a few laughs. We filled up the trunk of our car until there was almost no room left for the luggage. So why did this trip mean so much to me and fill my eyes with tears?

Nostalgia. Ever since the kids were born we went on family vacations. Almost all of them were along the eastern seacoast, from Massachusetts to Florida. We always looked forward to spending that time together and doing new things. We enjoyed some places so much we went back two, three or more times. In their early years there wasn’t anything unusual about us all eating our meals together at home, it was a regular routine. But, as the girls got older, this ordinary little thing, this routine we often took for granted, has become the exception not the rule. We rarely eat meals together any more. So in Lancaster, as I looked around the table at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and saw my family all together talking and laughing, it brought tears to my eyes. It’s the simple things in life we forget to appreciate until they’re gone.

We escaped to the hotel room, after shopping, to cool off and pick a place to have dinner. We stretched out on the beds and tossed ideas around while my younger daughter, always in control of the remote control, flipped through the tv guide trying to find something we can all watch. We discovered that Lancaster has changed quite a bit over the last 12 years. Some of the old stores and restaurants weren’t there any more and new ones have taken their place. I was looking at our old map to try to find someplace to eat, while my daughter was surfing through her smart phone for menus. She was getting frustrated because quite a few places I mentioned didn’t exist any more. “Why are you looking at that old map?” she asked, “I picked up a new one in the lobby.” I didn’t tell her that the “old” map I was holding had all the places we had been to in the past “circled” in ink. I kept it to myself that while the girls and my husband were revisiting Lancaster, I was revisiting the past and their childhoods. Children grow up too fast. Parents start aging. Instead of my husband and I helping the girls get out of the car, now my older daughter extends her hand to help me get out and then tells me, “I think dad’s back is bothering him, I could tell by the way he got out of the car.” She was right. He was in some pain, the long ride had aggravated his backache. The roles are already starting to reverse ever so slightly, or maybe more than I like to think.

After dinner it was back to the hotel. The shopping and heat had taken it’s toll on us and we wanted to make the most of our time there. Showers, PJs, under the covers watching television together, without laptops, just like the old days. It wasn’t long before we were falling asleep and the lights went out. I look over at the girls. They look so little when they are sleeping . . . at least in my mind’s eye. I can see the young women they are and the little girls they were, all at the same time.

I wish I could turn the clock back and do it all over again, but of course I can’t. It’s the circle of life. My older daughter is almost the same age I was when I got married. Soon she will be married. One day both girls will have families of their own. I wonder if they will take their children to visit Lancaster one day. I hope they put down the smart phones while they are there and take a paper map. I hope they circle all the places they visit and save that map. One day their children will be grown and they will be looking to revisit not just Lancaster, but the past; wondering where all the years went and yearning to have those simple family dinners together that grow fewer and farther in between.

P.S. At one of our meals together, my older daughter got the idea that she and my younger daughter should blog our trip to Lancaster using “my voice,” as though I had written it. Years ago they each wrote a blog in my voice about a particular topic and I posted it. No one seemed to notice I hadn’t written those blogs so I guess they did a good job. However, had my daughters written this blog it would have been very different. They were prepared to write about “peeves.” There are always peeves to write about whenever I leave the house and this trip was no exception. But, I did tell my older daughter that she and I would not be writing the same blog about this trip. I was feeling this trip from a mother’s point of view. There would be no way she could see it the way I did, and hers would be a lot funnier. My daughter’s blog would be full of details that I have already forgotten. She may have changed her mind about writing it, but if she does I will post it.

Interview With a Nurse . . .

 

 

Yesterday I went to see a specialist (story for another blog, "Probably Nothing") and had a nice long interview with his nurse. She said she had most of my history already since I have been a patient at the hospital for over ten years. Still she had a million questions to ask me about. Here is a sample of the questions and answers:

 

Nurse: Other than the surgery to remove your tumor eleven years ago and the hysterectomy that followed, have you had any other surgeries?

 

Me: Yes, I had my tonsils and adenoids out when I was four and a miscarriage in 1986.

 

Nurse: So you still have your gall bladder, pancreas, . . .

 

Me: Yes, I have all my other body parts for now.

 

Nurse: Do you drink alcohol or wine and if so how often?

 

Me: To be conservative, I would say about once a month.

 

Nurse: So when you drink wine once a month do you have one, two or three or more glasses?

 

Me: Usually one glass is all I can handle now, no more fun times for me.

 

Nurse: Do you use any recreational drugs?

 

Me: No, but I think I should consider it. Do you have any?

 

Nurse: Do you have anxiety? rash? problems eating? fever? pain?  . . .

 

Me: No. Is this what I have to look forward to?

 

After we are done, she takes me back to the reception area to wait for an examination room. About 50 minutes later I get called in.

 

Nurse: The doctor will be in shortly. Do you have any questions?

 

Me: Well I had to be my own doctor for 5 weeks and started looking up things on the internet.

 

Nurse: That's never good.

 

Me: I know, but with my doctors on vacation what else could I do? I want to ask about the location of this mass because I know it's not good.

 

Nurse: The doctor will discuss that. What else did you research?

 

Me: I researched the doctor.

 

Nurse: And what did you find out?

 

Me: Well, I know he has 22 years experience, he has written about 30 books, he went to Italy to learn new surgical techniques and there's a long waitin time in the receptiona area . . . but his patients say he is worth the wait.

 

Nurse: Did they really say that?

 

Me: Yes they did, and so far everything I learned is pretty accurate.

 

The doctor enters. He is very nice. He says he has heard a lot about me from his nurse and my oncologist, who referred me to him. I hope it was all good, because I gave them both plenty to talk about.

 



"Probably Nothing" . . .

Last Thursday, June 11th, I went for my annual CT scan and cancer check-up. It’s been 11 years since I was first diagnosed and operated on. I used to dwell on cancer a lot more in the early years, especially the first five. Then, over time, I thought about it less and less and only when I needed to make my appointments. My CT scans came out fine again this year, and there was immediate relief. No change and no new findings are the best news you can get. But then my doctor follows up with a little physical exam. Usually there is nothing remarkable and our visit is concluded. This time that was not the case.

This time she found that on the left side of my rear jaw the salivary gland (the parotid) was slightly swollen compared to the right side. She didn’t feel any lumps and said, “It’s probably nothing.” For most people, that phrase might be very comforting, but for cancer patients it sounds the alarm. After all, we have heard that line before. When you first go to see the doctor and they haven’t run any tests, they don’t want to frighten you with all the negative possibilities running through their heads, so they say, “It’s probably nothing, but we will want to run some tests.” Several times after that, when little spots showed up on my lungs or liver I would hear, “It’s probably nothing, but we will retest you in three months or six months to see if there are any changes.” Even when those tests come out fine, you’ve still gone through all the “what ifs.” You wonder why there are new spots, what could they be, and then you pray for good results. The good results that allow you to resume your daily life and not have to think about this for another year.

So my doctor, who I love, seems a little perplexed by her findings. I can see the wheels spin in her head as she searches for answers, but none are forthcoming. As she tries to reassure me that this is probably her tendency to be overly cautious and that I shouldn’t worry, she mentions she may want to have the area tested. She isn’t sure what would be the best test, a CT scan or ultrasound. In the end, she says she will consult with a colleague about it, she may just have me return to see her in two months. I have to call her today to see what her final decision is in exploring what is “probably nothing.” Meanwhile, my dormant paranoia has awaken with this turn or events.

And, since Thursday, when I left her office, this minor swelling is all I can think about. It’s barely noticeable. I didn’t see it when I looked in the mirror before. I don’t feel anything, no discomfort. Now I can see it. I study my face to see if it’s changed or gotten bigger. I look it up online, which is the worse thing you can do. Every cause possible is listed, none of them say “probably nothing.” It’s always something.

No matter if you are 5 years, 10 years 15 years or more “cancer free,” you are never really free of cancer. The thought of it possibly returning haunts you. After all, no one can tell you why you got it in the first place. It’s unpredictable. And the truth is once you have had cancer, you are at a higher risk for other forms of cancer.

So, I will call my doctor this afternoon to see what she has decided to do. She has decided on the ultrasound.

UPDATE: June 19th, went for the ultrasound hoping to be done with this year's round of tests. The technician spent 15 to 20 minutes scaning my neck and I was getting a bad feeling. Of course she is not allowed to tell me anything, a doctor has to interpret the results. But then she says, I'll be back, I'm going to get the doctor. Well that can't be good. The doctor arrives within 5 minutes, that seems like an eternity. She repeats the test. She asks when I noticed the slight swelling on the left side of my face. I tell her I didn't, I only noticed it last week after my doctor saw it and wanted to check it out. And where is the swelling she asks (so did the techician). The swelling is very slight and hard to see, so I place my hand in the area. She proceeds to scan the area over and over. Finally, she looks at me and says she sees something, but she can't say what it is. The results are inconclusive, but she will study the images again and write her report. The best she can tell me is that I will probably have to go and get a CT scan of the area. That will undoubtedly be her recommendation to my doctor. I can feel the anxiety building up in me already. That's not what I wanted to hear. I get a little emotional. Neither the doctor nor technician want to deal with that, they are busy and maybe behind schedule. Now I have to wait for my doctor to call and tell me more or less the same bit of news. I don't think she will tell me it's probably nothing this time. This time there is something, we just don't know what it is yet.

In the meantime, while I wait for my doctor to call, I am breaking the doctor patient cardinal rule of not doing research on the internet. What else can I do while I am sitting here?  So I look up everything on salivary glands, untrasound tests, swelling of the parotid gland. What I learned is the salivary glands do get tumors, most of them turn out to benign. Reassuring, but I have a history of cancer. Ultrasound tests are supposed to pick up on tumors. There was definitiely something there, but my test was inconclusive. Does that mean it's not a tumor? I also learned that salivary glands can develop stones, like the kidneys. Ultrasound tests do not idenify calcifications. Could that be what the doctor saw but couldn't diagnosis from the test? Who knows? I'm just twiddling my thumbs waiting for the call to set the appointment for the CT Scan.

UPDATE #2 - Monday, June 22nd. Spoke to my doctor about the ultrasound being inconclusive. There is something there that's 3/4 of an inch big. She says it still could be nothing, but she is sending me for an MRI on Wednesday, June 24th. I guess we are pulling out the big guns since we skipped over the CT scan. The MRI imaging gives 3D pictures so hopefully we will know how to proceed next. If it's something requiring a closer look, she will send me to a specialist, probably a ENT onologist.  Here we go again. Thank God my doctor is thorough and cautious. No one else has been able to see this slight swelling without me pointing it out. If anything she caught it early.

UPDATE #3 I went for my MRI on Wednesday, June 24th and promptly called the doctor's office on Thursday afternoon for the results. I didn't get a call back so I waited till Friday afternoon and placed another call. My call was not returned. Now, I know I have to face the weekend with anxiety and have to hold it together until I can speak to the doctor on Monday. I have refrained from doing internet searches and tried to distract myself with hobbies and keeping busy. Sometimes it's hard to breathe. I hate waiting. I have no choice. It's finally Monday and I'm hoping to get a call in the morning. Nothing. By three in the afternoon I am getting antsy and call again. The secretary tells me the doctor is out of the country until next Monday and she will try to have the covering doctor call me with the results. I'm stunned and in disbelief. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do except to wait for a stranger, a doctor I don't even know, to call me and explain my test results. I have convinced myself it's something serious and want to move forward, but I have to wait. I'm exhausted. I'm worried. I'm scared.

UPDATE #4 Thursday, July 1st- Just got off the phone with the Doctor's assistant who emailed the doctor concerning my MRI test results. The doctor said there is a tumor that is probably benign, close to or on the carotid artery and/or facial nerve. She is communicating with a specialist who is reviewing the tests. We'll see what they decide soon enough. I wish the results were posted so now I can read exactly what the location is. This news was supposed to put my mind at ease.
 
UPDATE #5 Friday, July 3rd my MRI results were posted online and I printed them. I didn't read them because I was afraid of what I might see. Instead my husand, who understands very little aboutmedical terms, skimmed the document and looked up something he saw in the conclusion section. He tells me they think the mass is benign. I give in a read the report. It does sound hopeful. I want to talk to my doctor about how to proceed next, but have to wait till Monday when she returns from vacation. On Tuesday, July 7th, I call my doctor's office to ask how we will proceed based on the test results. The mass is located between the internal and external carotid arteries and I know enough to know the location is not good. The secretary tells me she hasn't gotten back to me because the specialist is on vacation this week. My reaction internally was distressed, but I kept my wits about me and asked if we can at least make an appointment with the specialist for when he returns. She says yes and later gives an appointment for July 16th. 

On July 16th I am finally called in for the appointment I have been waiting for for 5 weeks. The doctor comes in and tells me I have something that is very rare. Eleven years ago I was told the exact same thing, another very rare condtion. How lucky can one person be? Two very rare conditions in one life time. He explains that the problem with the location is not so much that it's between the carotid arteries but that there are two nerves in that location, one that controls the tongue and the other the voice. Any surgery would be risky and the risks would not outweigh the benefits at this time. This mass is very slow growing and has probably been there 10 to 20 years already. His plan is to do a needle biopsy next week to make 100% sure it's benign and after that he will watch it by annual MRIs to see how it's progressing.  All in all this is probably good news considering the alternative. If it was cancer, it would have to be surgically removed and chances are there would be serious consequences to the nerves in the area. Plus, I would mostly like need radiation and I know that in that part of the body that would also be very bad. So I thank God for sparing me from the worst and I pray this mass grows extremely slowly and doesn't have to be dealt with for a very long time.

UPDATE #6 A few days after my appointment I get a call from the doctor's nurse. They can't schedule the appointment this week because the radiologist that my doctor wants to perform the biopsy is on vacation for two weeks. My appointment will be on Ausgust 5th. That makes a total of four weeks of doctor vacations that I have had to wait through to put this behind me for about 6 months until my next MRI. I guess it's good no one feels a sense of urgency about this except me.
August 5th I go in for the biopsy to confirm what the MRI indicated. The doctor is very nice and explains the procedure thoroughly. First I get one shot in the neck for local anesthisia to the outside area. Then she uses a fine needle to do the biopsy and removes some tissue. She checks with another doctor to see if she has enough of a sample or has to use a larger needle. When she comes back she says she can do two more fine needle passes to get addition tissue samples. So after four needles in the neck I am done and have to wait 5 days for the results. In the meantime I make some vacation plans of my own. I write my original oncologist a note updating her on my latest tests and she answers immediately and says she will call me as soon as the results are in. She calls on the 5th day to confirm the mass is benign and I will be followed for this condition by the neck specialist. However, the neck specialist never did call me with the results as he said he would. So for now I can put this all to rest and wait for testing in January to assess the situation or probably to see how much change, if any, occurred within a six month period.

August 14th we leave for a nice family vacation, no tests, no doctors, no needles! Bye!

My Mother's "Third" Language . . .

I read a blog recently that reminded me so much of my mother and her "third" language. My mother's first language was the Sicilian dialect of Italy, her second language was Brooklynese, a corrupted form of English. Her third language was Italian and American Idioms and Proverbs. I acquired all three at a very early age from my mother because we were together virtually 24/7. My mother loved to use idioms and proverbs to make her point or for special emphasis. You could not argue with her because these expressions were so well known and widely used that they must be true, right?

For example, my mother would ask me or my brother to help her with something or she would need help and we were blind to it. It could be something as simple as helping her carry groceries, drying a few dishes, etc. When we didn't rise to the occasion, as most kids don't, she would pull out her popular Italian expression: Two parents can take care of 100 children, but 100 children can't take care of two parents." Did I mention my mother had a Ph.D. in guilt? Another one of her Italian expressions was used when we would would tell her we would finish something later. Postponing anything never sat well with my mother as she thought we would never get back to it. She was probably right. "There's an old expression in Italy, while you are dancing keep dancing." I interpreted that to mean once you sit down and take a break you won't get up again.  Then, if one of her friends or family asked her to do something and she really couldn't help them, we would hear: "You can do 100 good things for people and they forget it, but if there is one thing you can't do, that's what they remember." When we would take big helpings of food (and my mother always knew exactly how much we could eat) she would tell us, "You're eyes are bigger than your stomach." Of course my mom was always right. And God forbid I didn't get 100 on a test, just a 95, and I told her about all the kids who got less than me, she would always say, "Look at the ones who did better than you, not the ones who did worse."

My mother was never at a loss for an English idiom or proverb either. They rolled off her tongue in practically every conversation. "It's raining cats and dogs!" "Absence makes the heart grow stronger." "Actions speak louder than words." "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," "Better safe than sorry." "Easier said than done." There are just too many to count. These nice and neat little packages of wisdom spiced up many of our little talks. Without even knowing it, I was using them myself and with my slipping memory I sometimes confuse two and combine them much to my daughter's delight. Apparently she has them instilled in her too and she immediately recognizes when I make a mistake and corrects me.

Now you might think that's all there is to it, but no. About seven years ago I took a French class in college on proverbs and idioms, expecting to learn a few from the French culture. Seems that most cultures have their own ways of saying the same identical things. So the professor gave us a list of French proverbs to translate into the English! Now my "third" language, which I learned from my mother, came in very handy. I had no trouble running down almost the entire list and finding the English equivalent for the French proverb. However, most of my young classmates had never heard of the English proverbs and even when they heard them they had no clue what they meant. One asked me, "What does kick the bucket mean?" I explained that one and a few more and she just looked perplexed. Nothing made sense to her. How can they figure out the equivalent proverb when they never heard of them before? I kept raising my hand, all by myself, to give the answer the professor was looking for. Finally I was embarrassed and said she could call on me if she needed a response. Half way through the exercise she turned to me and said she should have let me teach the class that day.

I thought to myself that it's a shame these young people have no clue about all these proverbs and no use for them either. They just shrugged them off and were happy to move on. Most of these tiny bites of wisdom are easy to remember and still apply today. They are timeless. Many cultures thought enough of them to have their own variation to express the same piece of wisdom. They must have been appreciated and passed down from generation to generation for a very long time, but like with many other traditions and values in this day and age, they have fallen to the wayside.

60 and Catching Up on Doctor Appointments . . .

 

"It's a gonna happen to you."

From the movie Marty with Ernest Borgnine

which I highly recommend!

I don’t know why they call younger women high maintenance, but they ain’t seen nothing yet. I’ve written about this before, but getting old is not cheap and the amount of work that goes into it is very time consuming and stressful. I have noticed, from the time I turned 30 and every decade after, there has been a decline in perfect health. It starts gradually, so gradually that you might not even notice at first. Maybe it’ll happen when you pick up your child’s medicine bottle and can’t be sure you are reading the dosage right. And, because it affects your child, you make an appointment for the eye doctor, who tells you you now need mild glasses. Those glasses will be forever “tweaked” year after glorious year. Let’s fast forward, shall we?

What happens in your forties and fifties? Well there is premenopause that can last about seven years before you get to the end of this most uncomfortable journey. Your flow may last a lot longer, mine was up to ten days and came about every two to three weeks. Then there are the hot flashes and night sweats and mood swings. Your body has to adjust to the change and so does your family. “Open the damn window, close the window. Is it hot in here or is it me?” Any good gynecologist will advise you to get a bone density test to see if you have osteoporosis and to what degree. Well I went for mine and discovered I have the bones of an 80 year old. Another prescription for Fosamax and calcium is required to stop bone loss. I need to eat better and exercise . . . blah, blah, blah. I know this already, I just have another good reason to get motivated. Of course, being diagnosed with a rare cancer at age 50 wasn’t in the plan, but it happened. The only good thing that happened at that time was my doctor, who I love, asked me if I was 40 and when I said “No, 50,” she said no and looked at my chart to check it and appeared stunned. I also discovered during these years that I had some hearing loss, but nothing to worry about, I don’t need a hearing aid just yet. So I expected, when I turned 60, to face another series of medical issues and my body did not let me down.

About a year and a half ago I discovered that my blood pressure was high and went to the doctor to have that checked out. It was pretty damn high. Here comes the prescription pad for a water pill. Guess what? The old cholesterol is high too, very high. I tell the doctor I’ll try to lower it by diet (like that was going to work). He reluctantly agreed and scheduled me for another blood test soon. Suffice to say, my plan didn’t work and instead I get a script for Lipitor. Good news! I am very responsive to Lipitor. My cholesterol drops dramatically by the next blood test. Eventually, he cuts the dosage in half, but I remind myself I am 60.

But it never ends there does it? The last two years I have been complaining nonstop about my eye glasses. I wear bifocals and kept saying they put the line in the wrong place. It’s aggravating. I just got a new pair a couple of weeks ago and I am having the same issues. WTH is going on??? Yesterday I went with my daughter to the ophthalmologist for her eye exam and to offer a second opinion on new frames she wanted to pick out. As he is talking to her, he turns to look at me and says I should get new glasses. Even when it’s not MY appointment, they find something wrong with me. I tell him I just did and I’m not happy with them. He says he can see that because I keep poking them to keep them up on the face. He says the metal frames are heavy in the front and will keep sliding down. Besides that, when a person is in their fifties and sixties they can’t use bifocals any more. No? No. How old are you he asks. I reply, “I’m sixty. So he says, “Okay so you look young for your age.” But he still insists I need “progressive” lens for in between distances. Just great, now my eyes are playing tricks on me. So he says he can give me a good deal in July, plastic designer frames and progressive lens, when they have their sale. Given my current glasses cost me nothing I may go back and see what he can do to help me see better.

Today I went for my umpteenth CT scan in the last eleven years. It’s a precautionary check-up that I guess will go on for the rest of my life. I’ll see my doctor this coming Thursday for the results. Hopefully, it will just be my “well visit” once again. But there is always a cloud over my head. It’s always something.

Now I will get on my soapbox for a minute. For all you young women this is my parting advice to you. I know you are busy . . . very busy . . ., usually taking care of others, but you really should consider this now, while it’s not too hard. Take care of yourself now. Try to buy healthy foods and leave out snacks, you can‘t eat what isn‘t there. Eating well and giving your body the proper nutrition leads you to good health and energy. Get as much sleep as you need. Sleep is very important for your coping skills and handling stress. Find time in your regular every day schedule to do some exercise you enjoy, even if it’s walking 30 minutes a day for starters. Exercise also gives you an energy boost and can be addicting if you do it daily. Go for your annual physicals and other exams you may need for your stage in life. Do not neglect yourself. Little things turn into big things, curable things turn into chronic and even fatal conditions. As you get older, these things are harder and harder to do. You can make a lifestyle change and be a role model for your children, family and friends. You can be a better, healthier you. Do it! Take it from a wise, high maintenance, old lady who wants to keep her Facebooks friends healthy and happy!